Increased contact area for FinFETs

ABSTRACT

A method for forming fin field effect transistors includes epitaxially growing source and drain (S/D) regions on fins, the S/D regions including a diamond-shaped cross section and forming a dielectric liner over the S/D regions. A dielectric fill is etched over the S/D regions to expose a top portion of the diamond-shaped cross section. The fins are recessed into the diamond-shaped cross section. A top portion of the diamond-shaped cross section of the S/D regions is exposed. A contact liner is formed on the top portion of the diamond-shaped cross section of the S/D regions and in a recess where the fins were recessed. Contacts are formed over surfaces of the top portion and in the recess.

BACKGROUND

Technical Field

The present invention relates to semiconductor processing, and moreparticularly to methods and structures that provide increased areas forcontact between source and drain regions and their respective contacts.

Description of the Related Art

Silicon-on-insulator (SOI) fin field effect transistors (FinFETs) withunmerged epitaxially grown source and drain regions are usuallyassociated with high contact resistance due to non-selective etchissues. The etching process for forming contact holes that penetrateinto the source and drain (S/D) regions often etch away a portion of thehighly conductive S/D regions and loss of contact area occurs. Even witha selective etch, the contact area is usually determined based upon howfar the contact etch etches over the S/D regions. The S/D regions thatare epitaxially grown on the fins often have a diamond-shapedcross-section and may be referred to as epi-diamonds.

SUMMARY

A method for forming fin field effect transistors includes epitaxiallygrowing source and drain (S/D) regions on fins, the S/D regionsincluding a diamond-shaped cross section, and forming a dielectric linerover the S/D regions. A dielectric fill is etched over the S/D regionsto expose a top portion of the diamond-shaped cross section. The finsare recessed into the diamond-shaped cross section. A top portion of thediamond-shaped cross section of the S/D regions is exposed. A contactliner is formed on the top portion of the diamond-shaped cross sectionof the S/D regions and in a recess where the fins were recessed.Contacts are formed over surfaces of the top portion and in the recess.

Another method for forming fin field effect transistors includes formingfins from a silicon layer of a silicon-on-insulator substrate; forming adummy gate structure on the fins; epitaxially growing source and drain(S/D) regions on the fins, the S/D regions including a diamond-shapedcross section; forming a dielectric liner over the S/D regions;depositing a dielectric fill over the dummy gate structure and the S/Dregions; replacing the dummy gate with a replacement metal gatestructure and recessing the replacement metal gate structure; etchingthe dielectric fill over the S/D regions to expose a top portion of thediamond-shaped cross section; recessing the fins into the diamond-shapedcross section; exposing a top portion of the diamond-shaped crosssection of the S/D regions; forming a contact liner on the top portionof the diamond-shaped cross section of the S/D regions and in a recesswhere the fins were recessed; and forming contacts over surfaces of thetop portion and in the recess.

A fin field effect transistor includes a gate structure formed on a finand epitaxially grown source and drain (S/D) regions formed on the finadjacent to the gate structure. The S/D regions include a diamond-shapedcross section wherein the diamond-shaped cross section includes internalsidewalls where the fin was recessed to a reduced height, and anexternal top portion of the diamond-shaped cross section of the S/Dregions. A contact liner is formed over the internal sidewalls and thetop portion of the diamond-shaped cross section of the S/D regions, andcontacts are formed over the contact liner and over the internalsidewalls and the top portion of the diamond-shaped cross section of theS/D regions.

These and other features and advantages will become apparent from thefollowing detailed description of illustrative embodiments thereof,which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosure will provide details in the following description ofpreferred embodiments with reference to the following figures wherein:

FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view of fins taken at section line 1A-1A inFIG. 1B;

FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view of a fin field effect transistor(finFET) showing a dummy gate structure in accordance with the presentprinciples;

FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view of the fins taken at section line2A-2A in FIG. 2B showing diamond shaped cross sections of source anddrain (S/D) regions in accordance with the present principles;

FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view of the finFET of FIG. 1B showing S/Dregions formed in accordance with the present principles;

FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view of the fins taken at section line3A-3A in FIG. 3B showing a liner formed on the diamond shaped crosssections of the S/D regions in accordance with the present principles;

FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view of the finFET of FIG. 2B showing theliner over the S/D regions formed in accordance with the presentprinciples;

FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view of the fins taken at section line4A-4A in FIG. 4B showing a dielectric fill formed over the liner inaccordance with the present principles;

FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view of the finFET of FIG. 3B showing thedielectric fill formed over the liner and a replacement metal gatestructure installed in accordance with the present principles;

FIG. 5A is a cross-sectional view of the fins taken at section line5A-5A in FIG. 5B showing the dielectric fill formed over the liner inaccordance with the present principles;

FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view of the finFET of FIG. 4B showing thereplacement metal gate structure recessed in accordance with the presentprinciples;

FIG. 6A is a cross-sectional view of the fins taken at section line6A-6A in FIG. 6B showing the dielectric fill opened to form contactopenings and to expose a top portion of the diamond shaped crosssections of the S/D regions in accordance with the present principles;

FIG. 6B is a cross-sectional view of the finFET of FIG. 5B showing thedielectric fill opened to form contact openings in accordance with thepresent principles;

FIG. 7A is a cross-sectional view of the fins taken at section line7A-7A in FIG. 7B showing fins recessed through the contact openings andinto the diamond shaped cross sections of the S/D regions in accordancewith the present principles;

FIG. 7B is a cross-sectional view of the finFET of FIG. 6B showing thecontact openings extended in accordance with the present principles;

FIG. 8A is a cross-sectional view of the fins taken at section line8A-8A in FIG. 8B showing the dielectric fill further recessed to exposemore of the diamond shaped cross sections of the S/D regions inaccordance with the present principles;

FIG. 8B is a cross-sectional view of the finFET of FIG. 7B showing theextended contact openings in accordance with the present principles;

FIG. 9A is a cross-sectional view of the fins taken at section line9A-9A in FIG. 9B showing the liner removed from a top portion of thediamond shaped cross sections of the S/D regions in accordance with thepresent principles;

FIG. 9B is a cross-sectional view of the finFET of FIG. 8B showing theextended contact openings in accordance with the present principles;

FIG. 10A is a cross-sectional view of the fins taken at section line10A-10A in FIG. 10B showing a liner formed over the top portion and inthe recesses of the diamond shaped cross sections of the S/D regions inaccordance with the present principles;

FIG. 10B is a cross-sectional view of the finFET of FIG. 9B showing theliner formed in the extended contact openings in accordance with thepresent principles;

FIG. 11A is a cross-sectional view of the fins taken at section line11A-11A in FIG. 11B showing contact metal formed over the top portionand in the recesses of the diamond shaped cross sections of the S/Dregions in accordance with the present principles;

FIG. 11B is a cross-sectional view of the finFET of FIG. 10B showing thecontact metal formed in the extended contact openings in accordance withthe present principles; and

FIG. 12 is a block/flow diagram showing methods for forming a finFET inaccordance illustrative embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In accordance with the present principles, methods and structures areprovided that increase contact area in fin field effect transistors(finFETs). In one embodiment, the etching process for exposing sourceand drain (S/D) region includes two separate process steps. A first stepincludes a timed etch designed to stop on top of epitaxially grown S/Dregions. The S/D regions include diamond cross-sections so that acontinued etch exposes a larger portion of a top of the diamonds. In asecond step, a selective etch is performed to remove Si of the fins froma central portion of the diamonds. After the fin is recessed into thediamond step, a contact open etch is performed to open up the epitaxialmaterial of the diamonds to maximize surface area or contact area oncecontacts are formed.

It is to be understood that the present invention will be described interms of a given illustrative architecture; however, otherarchitectures, structures, substrate materials and process features andsteps may be varied within the scope of the present invention.

It will also be understood that when an element such as a layer, regionor substrate is referred to as being “on” or “over” another element, itcan be directly on the other element or intervening elements may also bepresent. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directlyon” or “directly over” another element, there are no interveningelements present. It will also be understood that when an element isreferred to as being “connected” or “coupled” to another element, it canbe directly connected or coupled to the other element or interveningelements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to asbeing “directly connected” or “directly coupled” to another element,there are no intervening elements present.

A design for an integrated circuit chip may be created in a graphicalcomputer programming language, and stored in a computer storage medium(such as a disk, tape, physical hard drive, or virtual hard drive suchas in a storage access network). If the designer does not fabricatechips or the photolithographic masks used to fabricate chips, thedesigner may transmit the resulting design by physical means (e.g., byproviding a copy of the storage medium storing the design) orelectronically (e.g., through the Internet) to such entities, directlyor indirectly. The stored design is then converted into the appropriateformat (e.g., GDSII) for the fabrication of photolithographic masks,which typically include multiple copies of the chip design in questionthat are to be formed on a wafer. The photolithographic masks areutilized to define areas of the wafer (and/or the layers thereon) to beetched or otherwise processed.

Methods as described herein may be used in the fabrication of integratedcircuit chips. The resulting integrated circuit chips can be distributedby the fabricator in raw wafer form (that is, as a single wafer that hasmultiple unpackaged chips), as a bare die, or in a packaged form. In thelatter case the chip is mounted in a single chip package (such as aplastic carrier, with leads that are affixed to a motherboard or otherhigher level carrier) or in a multichip package (such as a ceramiccarrier that has either or both surface interconnections or buriedinterconnections). In any case the chip is then integrated with otherchips, discrete circuit elements, and/or other signal processing devicesas part of either (a) an intermediate product, such as a motherboard, or(b) an end product. The end product can be any product that includesintegrated circuit chips, ranging from toys and other low-endapplications to advanced computer products having a display, a keyboardor other input device, and a central processor.

It should also be understood that material compounds will be describedin terms of listed elements, e.g., SiGe. These compounds includedifferent proportions of the elements within the compound, e.g., SiGeincludes Si_(x)Ge_(1-x) where x is less than or equal to 1, etc. Inaddition, other elements may be included in the compound, and stillfunction in accordance with the present principles. The compounds withadditional elements will be referred to herein as alloys.

Reference in the specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” ofthe present principles, as well as other variations thereof, means thata particular feature, structure, characteristic, and so forth describedin connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodimentof the present principles. Thus, the appearances of the phrase “in oneembodiment” or “in an embodiment”, as well any other variations,appearing in various places throughout the specification are notnecessarily all referring to the same embodiment.

It is to be appreciated that the use of any of the following “/”,“and/or”, and “at least one of”, for example, in the cases of “A/B”, “Aand/or B” and “at least one of A and B”, is intended to encompass theselection of the first listed option (A) only, or the selection of thesecond listed option (B) only, or the selection of both options (A andB). As a further example, in the cases of “A, B, and/or C” and “at leastone of A, B, and C”, such phrasing is intended to encompass theselection of the first listed option (A) only, or the selection of thesecond listed option (B) only, or the selection of the third listedoption (C) only, or the selection of the first and the second listedoptions (A and B) only, or the selection of the first and third listedoptions (A and C) only, or the selection of the second and third listedoptions (B and C) only, or the selection of all three options (A and Band C). This may be extended, as readily apparent by one of ordinaryskill in this and related arts, for as many items listed.

Referring now to the drawings in which like numerals represent the sameor similar elements and initially to FIGS. 1A and 1B, a partiallyfabricated semiconductor device 10 is shown in accordance with thepresent principles. FIG. 1A is a cross-section taken at section line1A-1A of FIG. 1B. Device 10 includes a dielectric layer 12 that mayinclude a buried oxide (BOX) of a silicon-on-insulator substrate. Fins14 may be formed from a semiconductor layer of the SOI substrate. Adummy gate structure 22 (although a gate-first structure may also beemployed) includes a dummy gate 20, spacers 16 and a cap layer 18. Thedummy gate structures 20 may include amorphous Si or polysilicon(although other materials may be employed), the spacers 16 and the caplayer 18 may include silicon nitride (although other materials may beemployed). The fins 14 may include monocrystalline Si, although othermaterials, such as SiGe, Ge, SiC, etc. may be employed.

Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, fins 14 are employed for epitaxiallygrowing source and drain (S/D) regions 24. FIG. 2A is a cross-sectiontaken at section line 2A-2A of FIG. 2B. The S/D regions 24 may includeSi, SiGe, Ge, etc. The S/D regions 24 may be unmerged epitaxial S/Dregions which have a different composition than the fin that they weregrown on. The S/D regions 24 may be doped during formation using anin-situ doping process, although other doping processes may be employed.The epitaxial growth process results in a cross-section that isdiamond-shaped for the S/D regions 24. The diamond-shaped epitaxiallayer may be referred to herein as a diamond or a S/D diamond 28 forease of reference.

Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, a dielectric liner 26 is formed oversurfaces of the device 10. The liner 26 may include SiN, although othermaterials may be employed. FIG. 3A is a cross-section taken at sectionline 3A-3A of FIG. 3B.

Referring to FIGS. 4A and 4B, FIG. 4A is a cross-section taken atsection line 4A-4A of FIG. 4B. A replacement metal gate (RMG) process isperformed. A dielectric fill 30 is employed to fill up spaces and gaps,followed by a planarizing step, e.g., a chemical mechanical polish(CMP). The dielectric fill 30 may include a flowable oxide. Next, thecap layer 18 and the dummy gate 20 are removed and replaced with a gatedielectric 32, a work function metal 34 and a gate conductor 36. Otherconfigurations and materials are also possible. The gate dielectric 32may include high-k dielectric materials, such as e.g., HfO₂. The workfunction metal 34 may include Pt, Au, Ag, Cu, etc. The gate conductor 36may include W, etc.

After the gate replacement process, a top surface of the device isplanarized, by performing, e.g., CMP. Note that gate replacement is notnecessary in a gate-first process where the gate structure is formedwithout the use of a dummy gate.

Referring to FIGS. 5A and 5B, the replacement gate metal is recessed andcapped with a capping layer (gate cap) 40. A dielectric material (e.g.,an oxide) is deposited to fill in gaps and spaces. A CMP process isperformed to planarize a top surface of the device 10. Note that FIG. 5Ais a cross-section taken at section line 5A-5A of FIG. 5B.

Referring to FIGS. 6A and 6B, FIG. 6A is a cross-section taken atsection line 6A-6A of FIG. 6B. Contact holes or openings 42 are formedin the dielectric fill material 30 on sides of a gate structure 44. Thecontact openings 42 are formed by a first etch process that removes alarge portion of the fill material 30 and exposes the diamonds 28 of theS/D regions 24. In one embodiment, the etch process may include apatterned reactive ion etch (RIE) process that employs an etch chemistrythat removes all materials, e.g., oxide, nitrides and Si. This etchprocess may include a timed etch that removes material sufficient toopen up the liner 26 and expose the material of the S/D regions 24.

Referring to FIGS. 7A and 7B, contact holes or openings 42 are extendedinto the fins 14 to form recesses 46. FIG. 7A is a cross-section takenat section line 7A-7A of FIG. 7B. The recesses 46 are formed by a secondetch process that removes a portion of the fins 14 to open up a centralportion (fins) in the diamonds 28 of the S/D regions 24. In oneembodiment, the etch process may be a continuation of the first etchprocess (e.g., timed etch) by switching the etch chemistry. In anotherembodiment, the second etch process may be performed separately from thefirst etch process. The second etch process may include a selective etchto remove a portion of the fins 14 with minimal etching of oxides andnitrides, which act as mask materials to protect the diamonds 28 of theS/D regions 24. In one embodiment, the selective etch process includesan HBr chemistry for a RIE.

The recesses 46 formed preferably leave behind a sufficient portion ofthe fins 14 to provide adequate reduction for current-crowding effects.In one embodiment, the sufficient portion is less than about one halfthe height of the fin 14. In other embodiments, the recessed fin heightis less than about 30% of its original height. In still otherembodiments, the recessed fin height is less than about 20% of itsoriginal height.

Referring to FIGS. 8A and 8B, a continued etch is performed to furtherrecess the dielectric fill 30 to expose a larger portion of the liner26. FIG. 8A is a cross-section taken at section line 8A-8A of FIG. 8B.If the dielectric fill 30 includes oxide, the etch process is configuredto remove oxide to expose the liner 26.

Referring to FIGS. 9A and 9B, another etch is performed to remove theliners 26 from top portions of the diamonds 28. FIG. 9A is across-section taken at section line 9A-9A of FIG. 9B. In one embodiment,the liner 26 includes silicon nitride and may be removed with aselective etch with respect to, e.g., Si and oxide. This etch leaves amultiple surface exposure of the epitaxially formed S/D regions 24. Theexposed surface includes external diamond surfaces, and internalsurfaces where the fins 14 were recessed.

Referring to FIGS. 10A and 10B, FIG. 10A is a cross-section taken atsection line 10A-10A of FIG. 10B. A contact liner 50 is conformallyformed in the contact holes 42, recesses 46 and over exposed portions ofthe S/D regions 24. The liner 50 may include Ti, TiN, TaN, or othermaterials. The liner 50 may be annealed to form a silicide with the S/Dregions 24.

Referring to FIGS. 11A and 11B, FIG. 11A is a cross-section taken atsection line 11A-11A of FIG. 11B. A conductor is formed over the liner50. The conductor and the liner 50 are planarized, e.g., by CMP, to formcontacts 52. The conductor may include a metal such as W, Cu, Al, etc.to form contacts 52. The contacts 52 follow multiple surfaces in contactwith the liner 50 on the epitaxially formed S/D regions 24. The liner 50surfaces include external diamond surfaces, and internal surfaces wherethe fins 14 were recessed.

Referring to FIG. 12, methods for forming fin field effect transistorsare illustratively shown. In some alternative implementations, thefunctions noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted in thefigures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, beexecuted substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes beexecuted in the reverse order, depending upon the functionalityinvolved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagramsand/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the blockdiagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by specialpurpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions oracts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardware and computerinstructions.

In block 102, fins are formed on a substrate. In one embodiment, thefins may be formed in a silicon layer of a silicon-on-insulator (SOI)substrate, although other substrate configurations may be employed. Inblock 104, an optional dummy gate structure may be formed on the fins.Alternately, a gate-first process may be employed. In block 106, sourceand drain (S/D) regions are epitaxially grown on the fins. The S/Dregions include a diamond-shaped cross section. In block 108, adielectric liner is formed over the S/D regions. In block 110, adielectric fill is deposited over the dummy gate structure and the S/Dregions.

In block 112, an optional dummy gate replacement may be performed byreplacing the dummy gate with a replacement metal gate structure andrecessing the replacement metal gate structure.

In block 114, the dielectric fill over the S/D regions is etched toexpose a top portion of the diamond-shaped cross section. The dielectricfill etch may include performing a timed etch in accordance with apattern to reach the top portion of the diamond-shaped cross section inblock 115. In block 116, the fins are recessed into the diamond-shapedcross section. The fin recess into the diamond-shaped cross section mayinclude performing a selective etch to etch a portion of the fins withinthe diamond-shaped cross section in block 117. The selective etch mayinclude a reactive ion etch with an HBr chemistry. Blocks 114 and 116may include a same etch process with different chemistries at differenttimes or may include two separate etch processes.

In block 118, a top portion of the diamond-shaped cross section of theS/D regions is exposed. In block 120, this may include etching away thedielectric liner from the top portion (e.g., exposing more of the topdiamond facet surfaces).

In block 122, a contact liner is formed on the top portion of thediamond-shaped cross section of the S/D regions and in a recess wherethe fins were recessed. In block 124, contacts are formed over surfacesof the top portion and in the recess. The contacts may be formed over atleast portions of top diamond surfaces (facets) and on exposed sidewallsin the recess where the fins were recessed. The recess where the finswere recessed may include at least one half an original fin height,although other amounts are contemplated, e.g., between 10% and 90% ofthe fin height. In block 126, processing continues to complete thedevice.

Having described preferred embodiments for increased contact area forfinFETs (which are intended to be illustrative and not limiting), it isnoted that modifications and variations can be made by persons skilledin the art in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to beunderstood that changes may be made in the particular embodimentsdisclosed which are within the scope of the invention as outlined by theappended claims. Having thus described aspects of the invention, withthe details and particularity required by the patent laws, what isclaimed and desired protected by Letters Patent is set forth in theappended claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for forming fin field effecttransistors, comprising: epitaxially growing source and drain (S/D)regions on fins, the S/D regions including a diamond-shaped crosssection; forming a dielectric liner over the S/D regions; etching adielectric fill formed over the S/D regions to expose a top portion ofthe diamond-shaped cross section; recessing the fins into thediamond-shaped cross section; exposing an outer surface of thediamond-shaped cross section of the S/D regions; forming a contact lineron the exposed outer surface of the diamond-shaped cross section of theS/D regions and in a recess where the fins were recessed; and formingcontacts over surfaces of the top portion and in the recess.
 2. Themethod as recited in claim 1, wherein etching the dielectric fillincludes performing a timed etch in accordance with a pattern to reachthe top portion of the diamond-shaped cross section.
 3. The method asrecited in claim 1, wherein recessing the fins into the diamond-shapedcross section includes performing a selective etch to etch a portion ofthe fins within the diamond-shaped cross section.
 4. The method asrecited in claim 3, wherein performing the selective etch includesperforming a reactive ion etch with an HBr chemistry.
 5. The method asrecited in claim 1, further comprising forming gate structures on thefins.
 6. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein forming the gatestructures on the fins includes constructing a replacement metal gatestructure.
 7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein exposing theouter surface of the diamond-shaped cross section of the S/D regionsincludes etching away the dielectric liner from the outer surface. 8.The method as recited in claim 1, wherein forming contacts over surfacesof the top portion and in the recess includes forming the contacts overat least the outer surface of the diamond-shaped cross section of theS/D regions, and on exposed sidewalls in the recess where the fins wererecessed.
 9. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the fins arerecessed such that a recessed fin height is less than 30% of an originalfin height.
 10. A method for forming fin field effect transistors,comprising: forming fins from a silicon layer of a silicon-on-insulatorsubstrate; forming a dummy gate structure on the fins; epitaxiallygrowing source and drain (S/D) regions on the fins, the S/D regionsincluding a diamond-shaped cross section; forming a dielectric linerover the S/D regions; depositing a dielectric fill over the dummy gatestructure and the S/D regions; replacing the dummy gate with areplacement metal gate structure and recessing the replacement metalgate structure; etching the dielectric fill over the S/D regions toexpose a top portion of the diamond-shaped cross section; recessing thefins into the diamond-shaped cross section; exposing an outer surface ofthe diamond-shaped cross section of the S/D regions; forming a contactliner on the exposed outer surface of the diamond-shaped cross sectionof the S/D regions and in a recess where the fins were recessed; andforming contacts over surfaces of the top portion and in the recess. 11.The method as recited in claim 10, wherein etching the dielectric fillincludes performing a timed etch in accordance with a pattern to reachthe top portion of the diamond-shaped cross section.
 12. The method asrecited in claim 10, wherein recessing the fins into the diamond-shapedcross section includes performing a selective etch to etch a portion ofthe fins within the diamond-shaped cross section.
 13. The method asrecited in claim 12, wherein performing the selective etch includesperforming a reactive ion etch with an HBr chemistry.
 14. The method asrecited in claim 10, wherein exposing the outer surface of thediamond-shaped cross section of the S/D regions includes etching awaythe dielectric liner from the outer surface.
 15. The method as recitedin claim 10, wherein forming contacts over surfaces of the top portionand in the recess includes forming the contacts over at least the outersurface of the diamond-shaped cross section of the S/D regions, and onexposed sidewalls in the recess where the fins were recessed.
 16. Themethod as recited in claim 10, wherein the fins are recessed such that arecessed fin height is less than 30% of an original fin height.